High-speed rail freight has to be defined by speed as well as other characteristics, like type of cargo, operating principles and vehicle concepts. However, when looking at speed, 160 km/h can be set as a lower limit for the demarcation of high-speed rail freight. The fastest train operating today, the TGV Postal in France, has a maximum speed of 270 km/h. High speed rail freight addresses the market segment of mail and express freight. For a long time rail hold a strong position in this market. However, since the middle of 20th century rail lost much traffic to both road and air transport and new traffic was quickly absorbed by the competing modes. Today the situation varies between countries: In some countries new traffic systems were built up (again) and new rolling stock able to run at high speeds was introduced. In other countries traffic declined and finally ceased totally. Rolling stock for high-speed rail freight show a large variety of different train concepts, from single wagons to freight multiple units. Common for them is the use of passenger train technology. Some vehicles are even directly derived from passenger trains. The market for high-speed rail freight is certainly small as far as volume is considered. It offers however a high specific revenue-potential and it is also a fast-growing market. In order to develop high-speed rail freight it is crucial to look at it as a system, comprising not only the rolling stock but also terminals, loading units, transloading techniques and train operations. The development of suitable located and designed terminals is crucial if rail is to take a bigger share of the market. Intermodality has to be improved both towards road and not least air transport. Another critical aspect is the operational coordination with other train traffic. Conflicts may not only arise with passenger traffic, but - perhaps mostly - with conventional freight traffic. The emerging pan-European high-speed network offers new opportunities for high-speed rail freight and can contribute to diminish the abovementioned problem. In Scandinavia the Europa- and Götalands-lines would contribute to improve the chances to establish new high-speed rail freight traffic in Sweden.